2014 MHA Annual Meeting

4' x 3'-6" Pat Manley Pizza Oven

Floor is insulated with 2" of calcium silicate board.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Sand bed for firebrick hearth.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Floor is in place.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Metal door plug lying on the hearth.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Checking the arch form for the door opening.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Laying out the arch bricks for the door.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Cleaning up the inside side walls before starting the vault.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Notches on the side walls, near the front, are to receive the skew bricks that will receive the dropped front arch.
The projecting bricks from the side walls act as ledges to carry the steel reinforcing harness.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Form for dropped front arch.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Skew bricks in place.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Dropped front vault directs gases down towards exit, which is just on the oven side of the door.

Pat Manley explains the use of tapered arch bricks for the vault.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Ledge for main vault form.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Main vault form in place.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Laying up the main vault, using a running brick bond.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Gas exit slot visible at front.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Tapping the last vault brick into place.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Custom made pivoting damper section.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Gas exit in place, ready for hookup to the chimney.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Steel harness in place to contain the side thrust from the vault.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Starting to remove the formwork.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Note the flex in the middle of the channel iron. Normally the vault forms are not removed until the mortar has set and cured.
In this case, it was fresh and exterted more pressure than normal.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

We jury-rigged additional support for the vault.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Starting the curing fire. In fact, we had to burn out the last remaining pieces of the forms to avoid putting
additional stress on the vault by rough handling during removal of the forms.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Pegboard vault form is visible.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Note the shifted bricks on the dropped arch. They had started to drop, and were jacked back into place as the reinforcing
was added to the steel harness.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

The oven is venting properly, even though the pegboard form in the exit throat is still in place. It is venting largely through
the pegboard holes.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Small wisps of smoke through leaks, possibly from the vault shifting.

Pizza oven workshop with Pat Manley

Getting ready to cook some pizza.
Go to the Pizza Party.

Back to Wildacres 2014 Photo Report